Business Concentrates MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
▸ Ethox triumphs over Coke again The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office has finally listed Ethox chemist James Tanner among the inventors of a patented gas barrier molecule, bis(2-phenoxyethyl)terephthalate, after a five-year fight between Ethox and Coca-Cola. Greenville, S.C.based Ethox accused Coca-Cola of deliberately leaving Tanner off the polyester bottle additive application. A federal district court backed Ethox’s claim, and after Coke’s appeal, so did the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Chuck Hinton, Ethox’s president, says his firm spent $4 million to defend its claim. “Someone has to teach Goliath a lesson,” he says. Coke is free to do what it wants with the technology and “so are we,” he adds.—MARC REISCH
INSTRUMENTATION
▸ Monsanto signs with Two Pore Guys Monsanto will evaluate a nanopore-based diagnostic system developed by the Santa Cruz, Calif.-based start-up Two Pore Guys. Monsanto plans to develop assays for biomolecules in crops, pests, and pathogens using the smaller firm’s Monsanto will handheld technology. test Two Pore Silicon nanopores emGuys’ detector bedded in test strips in agriculture uses. enable rapid, inexpensive detection of analytes including nucleic acids and proteins, Two Pore Guys says.—MARC REISCH
Indorama will acquire DuPont Teijin Films The Thai polyester giant Indorama has agreed to acquire DuPont Teijin Films for an undisclosed amount. The joint venture between DowDuPont and Japan’s Teijin makes biaxially oriented polyethylene terephthalate (BOPET) and polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) films. It has 277,000 metric tons of film capacity per year and annual sales of about $600 million. With the purchase, Indorama will get eight production sites in the U.S., Europe, and Asia and an innovation center in the U.K. It will also acquire the Melinex and Mylar brands. The market for BOPET film, used in packaging and electronics applications, is growing at a rate of 7% per year, Indorama says. The acquisition will integrate the DuPont Teijin business with Indorama’s PET production, the firm adds. In addition, the Thai firm makes the PEN raw material naphthalene dicarboxylate. Indorama bought the world’s only naphthalene dicarboxylate plant last year from BP.—ALEX TULLO
mercury after implementation of the Mercury & Air Toxics Standards regulation in the U.S. However, Cabot says demand for activated carbon has been lower than originally expected. The decision will affect 40 employees.—MICHAEL MCCOY
capabilities in Ennore, India, with kilo labs and a pilot plant. Piramal will also add early development of both drug substances and drug products in Morpeth, England, and expand R&D, automation, and IT systems at all its facilities.—RICK MULLIN
PHARMACEUTICAL CHEMICALS
OUTSOURCING
▸ Piramal invests in drug actives
▸ Avara buys another drug formulation site
Piramal Pharma Solutions will spend $55 million in the U.S. and Asia to boost contract production of active pharmaceutical ingredients. The investment will add 270,000 L of new multipurpose capacity to support a pipeline of 80 late-stage customer programs. The firm will expand its high-potency capacity in Riverview, Mich., while boosting early-stage development
Avara Pharmaceutical Services has agreed to acquire AstraZeneca’s Reims, France, manufacturing and distribution facility. It’s the pharma service firm’s second deal for finished-drug manufacturing capacity in recent weeks, following an agreement to purchase GlaxoSmithKline’s solid-dose formulation plant in Aiken, S.C. With the addition of Reims, Avara will have eight sites in France, Puerto Rico, the U.K., Ireland, Italy, and the U.S. Drug industry veteran Tim Tyson launched Avara in 2015 with the purchase of a Merck & Co. formulation plant in Arecibo, P.R.—RICK MULLIN
ENVIRONMENT
▸ Cabot has setback in mercury abatement Cabot Corp. has indefinitely idled three of the seven production lines at its activated carbon plant in Marshall, Texas. Cabot and other activated carbon producers have been anticipating increased demand for the material to capture power-plant
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C&EN | CEN.ACS.ORG | OCTOBER 16, 2017
INORGANIC CHEMICALS
▸ AkzoNobel expands pharmaceutical salt Piramal is investing in this facility in Riverview, Mich.
AkzoNobel has completed the expansion of a plant in Mariager, Denmark, that makes pharmaceutical-grade salt. The project increases capacity by 60% for what
C R E D I T: TWO P O R E GU YS ( D E T ECTO R ) ; P I RA M A L ( LA B ORATO RY)
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
